Gary Johnson blows up when interviewer presses him on his tax policy

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential candidate, tried to
change the subject to marijuana legalization when a reporter
pressed him on his tax policy in an interview, published
Thursday, that grew increasingly heated.

After a contentious discussion of Johnson's poll numbers — he's
hovering around 5.8% in the RealClearPolitics average — Lewis
turned the conversation to the Libertarian nominee's tax policy.

Johnson said that he wanted some "certainty" that taxes wouldn't
go up. He launched into a defense of his record of not raising
taxes "a penny" as a two-term governor of New Mexico.

"We're not getting elected king or dictator," Johnson said. "If
Congress passes tax reduction, tax simplification, I sign on to
it. But I also recognize that government picks winners and
losers, that crony capitalism is alive and well."

When Lewis said "most of the world's major economists" think
Johnson's tax plan wouldn't work, a visibly angry Johnson
responded that "he didn't want to argue," and tried to steer the
conversation toward marijuana legalization.

"I came out for the legalization of marijuana — let me just use
that as an example," Johnson said. "And I will tell you that I
had people in my face for years, and years, and years, telling me
about how stupid and how idiotic it was that we should allow
marijuana to be legal."

"What's that got to do with your tax policy?" Lewis asked.

"It's leadership," Johnson said.

Joe Hunter, the communications director for Johnson's campaign,
emailed Business Insider a statement:

"Gov. Johnson is not a wallflower. He has done thousands
of interviews, and yes, sometimes they get contentious,
especially when questions come with unfair presuppositions. The
Fair Tax is but one example. The reporter suggests no "leading"
economists agree with it. If it's such a bad idea, why does it
have dozens of congressional sponsors and why has it been
supported by such fiscal conservatives as Mike Huckabee and
Herman Cain? When an interview becomes a debate, it should be
no surprise that the gloves come off."